


He's Back. Again.

by delilah24



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Canon Divergence, Canon Fix-It, M/M, Post-Canon Fix-It, Sabriel - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 03:15:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19455178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/delilah24/pseuds/delilah24
Summary: Sam can't believe his eyes when Gabriel shows up in the bunker after faking dead again. The archangel explains how he did it, and in the process unseen emotions are revealed.





	He's Back. Again.

**Author's Note:**

> Day 3 Of Sabriel Events!!! Canon Fix-it!!!

Sam was willing to listen to his mother now about getting more sleep. Hell, he was willing to take a week-long nap right now, because he was pretty sure he was hallucinating. It wasn’t him that heard the bunker door being opened and closed in the middle of the night, it was his ears making up sounds to fill the silence of the archive at three in the morning. It was his paranoid, sleep-deprived brain that made him stumble over and press against the wall, armed with a gun, to protect himself against the false footsteps as they came closer, closer. It was his mind that weaved the terrified visage of a newly deceased archangel throwing his hands up so that Sam wouldn’t shoot, whiskey-colored eyes opened wide.

“Whoa! Easy there!” Gabriel coaxed him like a horse. Sam still didn’t lower his weapon. “It’s me, Sam, it’s Gabriel.”

Sam tightened his grip. “Gabriel’s dead.”

“Gabriel” tightened his jaw. “Come on, don’t make me prove it, you know how little grace I have left.”

The Winchester said nothing, gun still trained right on his heart. Gabriel sighed, and in a swift blink his eyes began to glow. Behind him, three sets of wings bloomed from his back, shifting from a golden shimmer to a blue tip. Sam couldn’t decide if he should relax or be even more tense, but regardless he lowered the gun, tossing it casually onto the nearby library table.

Gabriel’s eyes stopped glowing, and he swayed in place a moment before steadying. He raised his arms back up in a showing gesture. “See? It’s me.” When Sam didn’t respond, he continued. “It’s good to see you again Samuel.”

What the archangel expected was a warm reception, wide smile of disbelief and maybe, if he was lucky, a hug. Instead what he got was hard knuckles across the face. Catching him off guard, the blow knocked him down the library stairs and into the map room. Before he even had the chance to lick the blood from his lip, Sam yanked him up by the shirt collar and shoved him into the wall. Sam went for another punch, but being prepared this time, Gabriel caught it and pushed Sam backwards. “Jesus Christ Sam, chill out! What’s wrong with you!?”

“What’s wrong with me!? You faked dying in front of me, _again_ , that’s what’s wrong, how the hell did you even get back here?”

“Yeah, _again,_ I thought you’d know I’d be back by now. Didn’t you see me wink?”

“You didn’t wink.”

“Pretty sure I did.”

Seeing Sam raise his fist again, Gabriel waved his hands in front of him. “Okay I didn’t wink, fine!”

“So how did -”

“I escape, yeah, I got it, let’s just rewind for a second here.” Gabriel interrupted. He snapped his fingers and suddenly they were back in scarily familiar territory. The dead trees, the coarse dirt, the gray skies - Apocalypse world. Except he and Gabriel were standing to the side of the group of escaping refugees, turning to see Michael approaching. Sam looked at himself, and then at Gabriel, standing side by side. Is that really what he looked like from the side?

“I thought you said you didn’t have a lot of grace still,” Sam pointed out, looking around at the obvious illusion.

“I don’t, but pulling something straight from memory is just like copy and pasting. It’s a lot less effort,” Gabriel explained. “Look, I’ll show you what happened.”

They watched for a moment as Michael came forward. Sam desperately wanted to look away knowing what happened next. Hearing his voice warning Gabriel not to do it, not to risk his life for a mere few seconds, was surreal because he could not only feel the pain but hear it, as though it were a tangible thing, that if he were to reach down his own throat he could rip it out and toss it in a chest before locking it away forever. 

“Watch me closely,” Gabriel instructed. He took Sam’s hand and walked him in front of Gabriel. Even knowing it was an illusion did not take the anxiety of moving closer to the threat away, worsening still as he turned his back to Michael. Gabriel’s confidence did little to ease it, but he did as he was told, and watched Gabriel. He looked at Sam, saying he was tired of running, and Sam was shocked to see as he looked away, trying to keep one eye on Michael, Gabriel did indeed flash a quick grin and wink. 

“Told you so.”

Still, Gabriel walked forward, blade in hand feebly, and everything looked the same. Then Gabriel reached forward and touched something, revealing a hidden aspect of the memory.

It was _Gabriel_. Standing there, hands in his pockets, shifting stealthily towards the back of the crowd as he got ready to run.

“How?” Sam breathed. “How could I not see you?”

“I turned invisible just as my duplicate took my place. I did the same thing to Luci at the hotel. Impressive, right?” The archangel smirked, a little twinkle in his eyes, but Sam was too busy watching him walk right through the portal. Even now, he had a hard time believing it.

The illusion ended, putting them back in the map room. Gabriel sat on the table, arms straight as they pushed against the edge of it, him leaning towards Sam. “After all that I just needed some time to...think. Being so close to Luci like that again, seeing Michael kill me - and I haven’t had the chance for some downtime ever since Ketch rescued me. So I chilled in LA for a bit.”

Gabriel had grown a scruffy beard in the time he’d been gone, much like Sam’s, making him look tired and roughed up. But he straightened his posture, looking up at Sam. “So is that enough to stop you from punching me again?”

Sam’s shoulders slumped, the exhaustion of the night and the previous ones hitting him. “I still had to watch you die. Again.”

The archangel blinked, somehow confused at Sam’s sadness. “Sam?” Was all he could say, tone questioning.

“I care about you Gabe,” Sam glanced down at the ground, and he could just see Gabriel’s corpse lying in front of his feet. “Seeing you die was...hard. Especially since I just got you back.”

Gabriel’s mouth turned into a soft ‘oh’ of surprise, his eyes slightly wide. “I didn’t know I...I’m sorry.” He stood, but wasn’t sure what to do from there. He reached a hand out. Retracted it. Looked down. Looked up. Opened his mouth. Closed it. For once in his very, very long life, he was speechless even with the full ability to speak.

He didn’t have to. Sam walked up to him and slowly put his arms around him, before squeezing him into a hug. If only he could see the shock on Gabriel’s face softened into a bittersweet smile and watery eyes. If only Gabriel could notice Sam breathing in his honey scent and closing his eyes as he squeezed Gabriel tighter.

“I’m happy you’re okay.”

Gabriel only no rescinded the hug, sinking into it and squeezing back. “Yeah. I mean, thanks,” He choked out.

Neither of them wanted to let go first. So neither of them did. Sam simply pulled back a little and looked down at Gabriel, the archangel looking back up at him. A little voice in the back of Sam’s head told him not to squander this chance, as he leaned in and planted his lips on Gabriel’s.

It was brief, because even with the scare Gabriel gave him he was more scared of kissing him than he was of Gabriel dropping dead again. He pulled away to see the archangel’s reaction, which was still utter shock. “Wow,” He breathed, then grinned. “Saaaaaam, what a softie you are!”

Sam rolled his eyes and looked away, face burning up. “Shut up.” He couldn’t believe he was doing this. Gabriel punched his arm jokingly.

“You have to at least buy me dinner. Tomorrow though. You need some sleep.”

“You sound like Mo- Mary. I’m fine.”

“Nope, humans need sleep and you are human pal. So sleep,” Gabriel snapped his fingers, and all of the sudden the sensation of falling asleep hit him in an instant, sending him to the floor. He wasn’t awake to see Gabriel pick him up without even the slightest of grunts, carry him to his room, and tuck him into his bed. He sat at the edge of it for a moment, before rummaging through his closet for an extra sheet and pillow, walking out to the library, and setting up on the table, falling asleep right then and there with a big old grin, the taste of Sam’s smokey lips still lingering on his tongue.


End file.
